READ: Forbes Compares the Growth of Esports to Poker

As the esports industry has grown over the last few years, many comparisons have been made between the growing video game industry and online poker boom that began in 2003. Beyond some of the obvious comparisons of the game formats themselves, we've seen quite a few poker players such as Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, and Randy "nanonoko Lew jump in and find success with both esports and poker.

Author and attorney Darren Heitner penned a piece for Forbes that digs into the comparison between the two industries. The article touches on the recent introduction of an esports course at UNLV aimed at teaching students to build synergy between esports and the casino industry, the launch of legal esports betting in Quebec led by the lottery operator, Loto-Quebec and more.

While the esports industry value has grown to an estimated $463 million, it's still a long way off from the $40 billion online gambling industry that was led by poker's boom. However, Heitner mentions esports does have some big advantages over poker:

What esports has that poker did not is the ability to reach the masses around the world with ease. The esports industry has developed in a period of time where the Internet is accessible and many have high speed connections that allow them to tune in via mediums like Twitch to watch their favorite esports players participate against each other in their preferred video games.

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